Nearly half of the total laborers in the United States work for 48 hours or more per week while more than 7 percent of them work for more than 60 hours, with or without overtime pay. There are a lot of reasons why these people render work beyond the required normal working hours. Some might be seeking a promotion, aiming to receive additional compensation, responding to the massive workload that needs to be done before the deadline, and for some other personal reasons.
However, several pieces of research, in relation to actual experience, reveal that Working Overtime backfires on people, their performance, and the end-results which eventually affect the companies they are working for.
Working overtime causes health problems
According to several studies headed by Marianna Virtanen from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, the stress caused by working more than the normal working hours could trigger health problems of all kinds. Aside from the usual sleeping disorders caused by sleep deprivation, overtime work might lead to depression, heart disease, impaired memory, diabetes and other lifestyle diseases.
Therefore, working overtime is pointless especially for persons who aim to save more of their money as their health will basically be at risk.
Working overtime makes employees less productive
The chief goal of rendering overtime work (aside from compensation) is to perform and accomplish more tasks. However, a research conducted by John Pencavel of Stanford University confirmed that working overtime does not make employees more productive compared to those who only stay at the office during the usual working hours. Overtime work is also one of the reasons for employee’s frequent absenteeism and resignation.
It furthered that the productivity of the employees must not be measured by the total number of hours worked but on how the specific job is done.
Therefore, companies are encouraged to focus merely on the methods on how work is done, and not on how long the employees worked for the company during the day.
Working overtime might increase risk in terms of safety
Research conducted in Germany found out that workers who render overtime work are more likely to be linked to an increased risk of vehicular accidents as they tend to be more fatigued and less cautious on driving. Drivers who are dead-tired from work execute an intermittent driving pattern and risky maneuvers which likely leads to accidents. They also tend to be less focused on driving which makes them more at risk of road collisions.